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One Kentucky man recently lost his life in one of the most horrifying ways imaginable: by falling into a woodchipper.
Just before 5 p.m. on Monday, Joseph “Joey” Wesley Manire, 46, was going about his business, trimming trees in the Stonegate neighborhood of Owensboro, Kentucky, just across the Ohio River from the Indiana border. For the past 25 years, the Owensboro family has offered an "over-the-top" Christmas display that has long been a local attraction for residents and visitors alike.
Manire, a contractor who lived about an hour south of Owensboro in Crofton, was working just across the street from that display when tragedy struck. He somehow became entangled in a lights display at a residence and fell partway into a nearby woodchipper. The freak accident caused Manire to sustain what officials have described as "traumatic" injuries. Though emergency medical teams arrived quickly, they were unable to save Manire. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
No one else was hurt in the accident.
The Daviess County Sheriff's Office reported that the incident remains under investigation, but police do not suspect foul play was involved.
The organization in charge of Owensboro Christmas Lights posted a warning about the deadly accident on its Facebook page:
"Please be cautious and extra aware if you are traveling in our area tonight. There has been an accident concerning a landscaping business across the street from our display. Local authorities have our neighborhood blocked off at the moment.
"We have the lights on to help light the area for the first responders, but please plan to visit the display a different night."
Little about Manire has been reported, though a heartbreaking Facebook post from a man claiming to be Manire's friend sheds some light on the man he was.
According to Gregory A. Huntley, Manire had a wife named Lisa and perhaps a son or other relative named Dave.
"God don't make men like you anymore," Huntley wrote in the touching memorial.
"I love you brother," Huntley added, "and until we meet again you fly high and keep an eye over us."
The Daily Mail reports that, between 1982 and 2016, 113 people have died in a woodchipper. Just about a third of them — 41 people — somehow got caught in the machine, as Manire did.
